Espial
by Valerianna
Summary: Succession Arc-When most of the major canon characters are stuck on a cruise ship sailing to the unknown, mixed in between a brutal Royal family willing to kill each other for the throne, isn't that exciting? Shimano certainly thought so. Beginning as a humble Royal chamber maid, she meets cannon characters and get mixed in events of murder, sex, and ruthless grasp for power.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

In the Kakin Empire, it's both a luxury and a tragedy to be born within royalty. The legitimate princes have to wait to be killed in a war of succession, or be ruthless and powerful enough to kill their siblings until they are the only one left.

Would you rather spend a short life in immense luxury and comfort while under enormous pressure, or would you rather spend a long life in hardship and hopeless despondent?

Shimano is a chamber maid; her duties are to the Queen and the Royal Family. Her life was born to serve others, without a single agency of her own, and up until this point she had no other means of looking at the world from another perspective. One would say her transformation begins as an eternal slumber, and one day she woke up and she could see the world because her eyes has been opened.

Shimano is not particularly beautiful, and years of servitude has left her rather looking older beyond her age. This is a blessing working in a royal family, she knows this way too well, and therefore takes no further measurements to cover up her flaws and accentuate her appearance. She has a round face and rather lovely eyes, but they're scrunched up in an eternal worried scowl, which gave her a more responsible look, and be entrusted with more secrets. Her hair and robes are black, allowing her to fade into the background nicely and only be called when needed. She is terribly observant but does not let this on, and she's very talented in terms of household chores and cooking.

When Queen Oito first entered the royal palace, she was there to witness it. They were around the same age when King Nasubi was visiting the capital university, and Oito caught the King's eye.

It was during a huge influx of crowd, everyone was listening to the charismatic King's speech when he paused for a few seconds, and his eyes fixiated to the girl in front, who was holding a bunch of flowers. The King made no acknowledgement of noticing her after that, but after the speech, the King informed a personal servant who informed a guard who informed Shimano to visit the girl and ask if she would like to be his eighth wife.

Shimano thought it was rather interesting how the King resorted to asking politely, because this had not happened before. Usually during these types of situations, the King would take whomever caught his eye, and they would go straight to bed while all his servants stood outside and listened. The guards would also stand straight and listen too, just in case the poor girl turned out to be an assassin. This is unlikely, because the country is prosperous, and the King is seemingly a good King who boosted the economy by waging war upon other small countries, this ensure Kakin citizens to be well fed.

It was almost two years ago, when Shimano went to the Dean and got the student list, and found Oito in her library. Oito was sitting with her then current boyfriend at the time, a handsome and tall boy with lovely curls and innocent looking eyes. Shimano did not have the hard to make an official announcement, so she pulled Oito aside and dismissed the guard who was following/protecting her and asked Oito if she would like to be married into the royal family.

When Shimano looked at the girl in front of her, she saw nothing but childish day dreams and fantastic ambitions for the future. Oito was caring, kind, and innocent. She was also a young girl, whose looks got her far in life, in terms of small favors and removal of many obstacles. Oito was clever enough to be admitted in a top university, but also clever enough to know that she did not come from a particular affluent family. She cannot change where she came from, but she can manipulate her life for the better. She longed for the usual flashes and lights and gold that blinded the eyes of many girls, and she wanted to live in a life of luxury and wealth, for she has never experienced them before. She was young, and she did not know that those that came so easily to her, youth, beauty, freedom, all had a hefty price she had to pay, and at the time, she freely offered those away willing to exchange what she thought she wanted.

"I thought I could afford to lose those things, Shimano, but I was wrong." Queen Oito often sighs to Shimano, who bowed her head to listen. "And now the fate of my daughter and I are both sealed. We're headed right for death. Oh, how I wish I could turn back time…"

Queen Oito's slanted deep eyes drooped down to her baby, a cute and chubby little form that giggled at her mother's caresses. Shimano has immense adoration and pity for the pair in front of her. Unfortunately, there's nothing she could do. She had watched step by step as Oito turned from a bright eyes young girl full of hope, to a queen of desperation and calculations.

"I will save her, Shimano." Oito said in determination, "even if it's the last thing I do. My life is now worthless, but Woble has a whole world ahead of her, and she must life. She must break these chains and survive."

Shimano bows her head, "I'll do my best to assist you, ma'am."

And she meant it.

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A/N: I've always been obsessed by HunterxHunter, and for those of you who stumbled across this fanfic without reading the original, you do not need to read it to understand my story. It helps.

HH is a masterpiece. In my opinion it is the best shounen manga in the world, perhaps ever. Its' charms are endless. I originally wanted to take this summer to finish my other fanfictions, but I really, for the life of me, cannot find the inspiration to continue those. I would much rather write something I am passionate about. I don't see my fascination with HH fade, as I've loved it for 10 years now. I hope to begin something brand new as my writing has matured, and hopefully it would be a more entertaining read.

Main cannon characters are coming, but they will be slow. The protagonist of this fic will be Shimano (which I understand defies regular people's idea of a female protagonist, but I'll try to make her interesting), and she will live, even if in the cannon the mangaka may or may not kill her off. According to the rate the story's going, I just hope the mangaka will leave her be, as I purposely chose someone insignificant but flexible to use as my protagonist.

I'm extremely happy the mangaka decided on a succession arc, as there are too many ancient Chinese dramas follows this plot. I want to make it my own while some of the events follow cannon, some will not. As all the important characters are on the Black Whale 1, it'll take place mostly on the ship.

Updates will be regular, hopefully.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

When the rumours of Black Whale 1 being deployed soon, many citizens signed up to be on the ship. They want to be immigrants, they want to begin a new chapter of their life on a new continent, with the new world ahead of them, and be the masters of their own destiny.

The Black Whale is a massive cruise ship that could hold tens of thousands of people. Divided in five tiers, first and second are reserved for royalty, entrepreneurs, celebrities, and politicians, and the rest of the civilians are divided among tier 3,4, and 5. They are for individuals who wants to immigrant, and construction works maintaining the ship, along with guards guarding treasures and wealth. Tier 2 and 3 are guarded by a valve that can only open during emergencies, meaning the two castes of people may never meet, and a swarm of army guarding the entrance.

As soon as the ship is being boarded, the succession war begins. Princes must fight each other in order to survive. But the Empire of Kakin is a civilized democratic society, therefore infighting is discouraged, and the media could easily expose direct attacks as a sign of over aggression, therefore a man unfit to be king. Fighting must be done in the shadows, and the truth can never be uncovered, as to maintain a pristine public image. This is how the empire has survived, and this was how Nasubi survived at his youth.

King Nasubi deemed this to be necessary to promote a health line of succession. Princes who died along the way may be buried in an honour to the new King. His rise to the throne was through the death of his siblings, and the deaths most likely he caused.

Many princes and queens know, that once they board on that ship, it's unlikely they'd return alive. It's fitting then, that the ship is black. Because to most of them, it's a large and somber coffin.

Now Shimano has no choice but to go. She's not important enough to be remembered by the King, nor is she unimportant enough that she has a choice to be left behind. Queen Oito has taken a liking to her precisely because she's a blank slate. She watches and absorbs everything in front of her, but she gives nothing back if she knows what's good for her. Her strength lies in her docility, and the Queen trusts her for it. Queen Oito originally asked her from the King. The King permitted Shimano to be Oito's servant because he has too many too count, and Shimano is not pretty enough to be memorable. Oito has used Shimano along her side ever since, and refused to eat anything that is not prepared by Shimano herself. She only allows Shimano to hold and care for Prince Woble, and over time, Shimano has gained affection for her dear Queen and Prince Woble.

The executive order came, asking how many guards Queen Oito requires, and she replied she only need one to the King, but in secret, she asked Shimano to scout for a powerful, ambitious but benevolent hunter with the ability to protect Woble. When she asked Shimano this, she did not gave any consideration for herself, for she anticipated that there might be a day when her sacrifice is needed. Until then, she is all Woble have for protection.

Woble is a dear creature that Shimano loved with all her heart. The young prince is a girl but adorned with the gender neutral title at birth. Woble chubby, playful, and can under very simple words. Shimano often had to read Woble books of fairy tales and fables, and Woble listens with intent, as if she understood every single word. Shimano sometimes gets too busy or sleepy, and she would pat wobble on her tummy and says, "please be silent for a moment, my dear prince, for I am very tired and we have to wait for your mother…" Woble stops making any noise, and instead she opens up her eyes, like black buttons, and looks around her environment with interest. Woble is attached to Shimano as Shimano is to her, hence Shimano took this job extremely seriously.

"Shimano, you know what is going to happen, right?" Queen Oito instructed in an anxious manner, when they were in their private quarters and could not be over heard, "This is a death match. This is going to be an end for my daughter. We need to plan—the other Queens, they will send spies and guards to watch over us, Shimano, you must be careful."

"I understand." Shimano said solemnly, and added after seeing Oito almost at the verge of a nervous breakdown, "I will not disappoint you, my Queen. However, you should relax and ease your psyche, for your mood transfers to the young prince, and she might get fussy."

"You're right. Of course." Oito visibly tries to relax for a while, but her eyes kept darting to the door for fear of being over heard.

Shimano help onto Oito's hand and said with sincerity, "My Queen, although the prince is young and vulnerable, she is also an infant. She poses a much smaller threat to the rest of the major contenders. You need to put on a façade, a face of ease and blessed happiness to be part of royalty, only then others will let their guard down in your presence, and Prince Woble would be safe."

"Yes. That's wise." Oito sighed. She didn't speak for a few moments while the thoughts in her head flew through at an incredible speed. "Shimano, what would you say is the most important quality in terms of selecting a potential bodyguard?"

"They'd have to be strong, my Queen?"

"Yes of course, but what else?"

Oito's eyes shone with worry. She looked towards Shimano with great expectation, and the latter thought for a moment before replying, "Compassion and empathy?"

"Yes." She said letting out a breath. "Although I have money, my worth and wealth are nothing compared to the upper Queens and Princes. Anything I could offer, they could offer double or triple. I can only ensure the protection of my child through manipulation of emotions. If a man is strong, but he lacks empathy, we might as well be dead. However, if a man lacks power, we still might die, but we'll die much slower. I'd prefer to live as long as necessary to ensure Woble's safety. Shimano, do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Yes, my Queen" Shimano replied, with more weight.

A few days prior to boarding, Shimano stood in the background and observed each hunter being selected. She has not yet mastered the art of discerning Nen, but she has a intuitive sensitivity towards an individual's personality and ambition. She can observe an individual and take in minute details and deduce their intentions. Her guess is pretty much on point if she has spent more time with them and observe their interactions with one another. She looked at these odd groups of people with interest. Mainly because of their choice of outfit, size and shape are so different from what she usually knows. She is used to life of conformity, and when she met outside hires of hunters that are free to express her individuality, she was baffled by their individuality.

They all seemed like excellent candidates. There's a monk who shows great prowess and handsome features. A cute girl who would be excellent in playing with Prince Woble, a benevolent looking soul with an amazing voice, a middle-aged man with a superior professionalism, and a boy with blond hair and kind eyes underneath an exterior of stoicism.

She watched, observed, and then reported back to Queen Oito, while presenting her idea of the best candidate.

"How can you be sure he's the best one?" Queen Oito asked Shimano while bouncing Woble on her knee.

"Call it an intuition." Shimano said, her eyes lowered to avoid the Queen's gaze, "There's another way to test him though."

"How?"

"The simplest way is to ask him who he wants to protect." Shimano said succinctly.

Queen Oito immediately understood. She looked at Shimano with praise and gratefulness, "Thank you, my dear Shimano. You have given me some hope in this grave we're about to impart."

The Queen fell asleep soon after their conversation, while Prince Woble's large eyes darted around the room while her chubby hands grasped onto Shimano's long hair locks.

Shimano held the warm and soft little body close to her, and sighed. She prayed to god that Prince Woble can survive this ordeal, for life is already too cruel to her.

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A/N: Soon we will get over the introduction and get into the actual story I promise.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The cruise ship began its voyage with all the Princes and Royal family inside it. Shimano has already memorized the top two floor plan in her mind, with each quarter drawn out inside a little notebook she carries, and various notes made.

Shimano came to the palace when she was just fifteen years old. She was already old enough to remember the harsh life she has left behind, and she too, was temporarily blinded by all the richness and flashiness that appeared before her. She distinctly remembered the fellow maids who were recruited with her. A few of them exceptionally pretty, hoping to catch the King's eyes and become a Queen. Of course, this did not happen; they were nothing but foolish dreams. Shimano stayed behind in the shadows and served without complaint. Nor did she seek encouragement and validation. Her rise in the ranks is a slow ascent rather than a fast and rapid shot to the top. When it comes times to choose personal maids for the King, she was the reliable one, therefore could be counted towards navigating her responsibility safely, and naturally she was grouped towards that section.

With a closer access to the King, Shimano also enjoyed few luxuries that no one else in the kingdom—or perhaps in the world—have enjoyed. None of them are hers, but they were so close to her she could touch them whenever she wanted. In fact, sometimes she has no other choice. She was there when foreign dignitaries came and presented valuable gifts to the King, and she was the one who had to clean or polish them. Either a magnificent jewel, or a big sculpture of a wonderful figure, or a book of priceless knowledge. She maintained them and kept the King's quarters tidy, and occasionally she instructed the younger maids on what to do, what the king's hobbies were like, and what the King needed at a certain time. Sometimes Shimano thinks she has so much useless information stuffed inside her head, and they are not of any value because she lives for the comfort of someone else.

Shimano doesn't know anyone who came into the palace with her and survived this long. She could count them off with her hand. One dies from exhaustion, one died from manipulation, one was too bold and spoke out too much, and eventually did not learn to pick her battles and was banished from the palace. A couple of girls who were pretty became the King's mistresses-, as in, the King enjoyed their youthful bodies once or twice before discarding them away, and they either got pregnant, which resulted in a banishment from the palace and sent to the underworld, or a certain death caused by one of the Queens.

Their foolish dreams of being a Queen was for naught, because even beauty means nothing when it comes to power. The King's Queens are meant as diplomacy tools. He married princesses and heirs in foreign lands, and it came as a surprise to everyone, especially Shimano, when the King chose Oito to be his eighth wife.

The King had already gone several years without taking another Queen, and every thought this was it. It was the time this dynasty had stopped producing heirs. The King already have countless children, wives and mistresses. The future of the Empire was already fairly stable. It came as a surprise that the King picked Oito from the crowd and fell in love with her. His affection for Oito was genuine—as genuine as it could be coming from a monarch—and she as well, reciprocated the feelings. It was a pure and fragile infatuation, and soon it was fractured under the weight of complex relationships, duties, manipulations, and pressure from the responsibility of being Royalty. At first Oito waited and waited for the King to visit her every night, and eventually it turned into a nonchalant trivial matter, and then it turned into disgust. Oito has been through too much these few years in the Royal Palace, and it turned her from a naïve girl into a calculating woman. She lost of some of her initial kindness, replaced with endless desperation and regret. She does not want the King to visit her anymore, and she showed it. Eventually their interaction ended completely other than the empty title that remained on her head as a Queen, and when Prince Woble was born, the King wasn't present, due to him busy enjoying the beauty of some other youthful and stupid girl.

He did come during Oito's first birthday though, as per tradition.

Tradition, is an unspoken rule that governed the monarch and chained them down from doing whatever they wanted. It is also a tool used by the monarch to control the masses. Why was there no revolt? People do not care much about who is in rule as long as they are happy and fed, and with the poverty line decreased, tradition was the secondary shackle that bounded their psyche. One could not revolt, because one could not overstep their place in society, and one could never reach across the aisles—just like the cruise ship that sealed the fate of people within it.

Shimano's main goal is to survive and return to her family. She routinely send money back to her family to ensure their survival, and often her mother and brothers sends words of encouragement and love. She came from a family of seven children, and while they were poor, they were not destitute and they were happy, somewhat. Her two parents work very hard for food on the table, and at age 15, Shimano gave up the future prospect of going to school and opted to try her luck at being a palace maid, knowing her grades could not achieve the top 1% she strived for despite her love of learning. She eventually found success in her career as a maid, as she slowly rose the ranks of maids she was paid substantially well (for a servant) and managed to send money back home for several years now, ensuring her sibling's tuition and their quality of life.

Queen Oito often talks about her life before she married to the King, and she often reminiscences how simple it was back when she was just a girl in college, hangout with friends and shopping on the weekends and cram for finals. She didn't even graduate before she was swooped off her feet by the King.

She doesn't talk about her life with anybody else though, only Shimano, and only when it's quiet and dark at night when she knows no one else is listening, she voices her sorrows in the somber night, by the candle light.

"We cannot do anything about the past, my Queen." Shimano often said while clutching the Queen's soft white hands, which is in sharp contract to her calloused worn ones. "We must move on to the future, and ensure a successful life for Prince Woble."

"Oh, my dear Woble." Oito sighs deeply before falling into a state of despair again.

"Do not worry, my Queen." Shimano said softly, "I think it went rather well today."

She was referring to the meeting between Queen Oito and Kurapika Kurta, the professional hunter.

"How did you know he would be the best candidate? How could you assess his power?" Queen Oito asked curiously, and this momentarily distracted her from her laments.

"Well, you see," Shimano hesitated before revealing some things she observed. "While everyone is immensely strong, I feel like he would be the one who would carry this responsibility well. When we were in the room, others were focused on the interviewers, while he assessed everyone and everything with a stable calmness. His reaction to everything was very subtle, and he isn't amazed or impressed by anything, even when I'm sure he hasn't seen the ship or the contents inside."

"This does speak to a man's character." Queen Oito smiled in a self-depreciating way.

"In addition, when one assesses a person's character, we would see how they react to things that make them calm and happy." Shimano said gently and firm, "did you show him Prince Woble?"

"Yes." Queen Oito relaxed her brows, "Yes, I did. Oh—Shimano, I'm so glad I did. He is a benign soul, I found. I'm not sure if I trust him completely, trust is a luxury I cannot afford right now, but when he held onto Woble's hand, he smiled – and it was geuine, at least, I think so. Shimano, am I being too foolish?"

"No." Shimano said with absolute determination. "Your trust would be well placed in him."

"But…" The Queen looks worried. She furrowed her eyebrows and looked towards Shimano with a intensely painful expression.

"My Queen." Shimano looked at her master dead right in the eyes and repeated with more emphasis, "Your trust would be well placed in him."

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A/N: I think I'll post this story on other sites as well. To get more traction. Ff is alright but I can't help but feel like it's dying.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

As the first night on the cruise ship approaches, so does the first cruise banquet.

Like all banquets held by the Kakin Royal family, this one was legendarily luxurious. Hoards of maids with trays and trays of food arranged in delicately beautiful fashion all around lined up formed into a beautiful dance while placing them on to the tables. Normally if Shimano is not taking care of the Prince, she would be part of the organization staff given her expertise and experience in the kitchen. But she dislike being in the kitchen all the time, and taking care of the infant gives her immense pleasure and accomplishment, she chooses to stay beside the Queen and the Prince.

Now might be a time to note, in this banquet, the king and all his descendants graced the banquet with their presence. This include his eight wives and 14 legitimate children who boarded the ship. Queen Oito is the eighth wife, and by ranking, the least powerful. Prince Woble is the 14th prince, and by ranking, the youngest. In addition, she is a girl. This is not to say that girls have a disadvantage in the public eye. Kakin Empire is a civilized democratic monarchy, all genders are equal in the eye of the law. However, in reality it's a whole different matter.

Shimano observed the hordes of people in front of her. The servants dressed in ironed uniforms, not a single speck of dust out of place, and all the guests in gorgeous sleek suits and beautiful glamourous silk dresses. The body guards in black clothing, professional and emotionless. Each of them seems to be painfully aware of gazes—the gazes of everyone around them. Each one is worries at other people's observation, fearing one of their flaws would be discerned through their eyes. The only one who does not care about what anyone thinks and behaves and acts like a fool is the King himself. Who in recent years, has become more and more of a caricature of himself.

Shimano remembered when she was very young, and the King has not yet reduced himself in a life of excess. King Nasubi conquered battles around the world, expanding borders and ordering mass constructions. At the height of his prime he was handsome, accomplished, wonderfully gifted strategian, and loved by all. It was during the height of his power when the Kakin Empire was the most powerful. One could say that as a Kakin citizen, he or she could travel the whole world without fear.

In his decline, King Nasubi became more and more paranoid, delusional, and cruel. As he ages, he fears the grasp for his power and tried everything to delay the inevitable, including spending large amounts of money to fine the cure for aging. Unfortunately, it was all for naught when he realized that he could not defeat death. Therefore, he let himself go, and lived in luxuries. He then devised a plan to ensure the tradition of his ancestors passes on, while forgetting—or perhaps purposely ignoring – the pain he had to go through when he was younger, and he battled for the throne with his brothers and sisters, whom he grew up with.

As the banquet begin, Shimano observed the Princes and quietly retreats to the back, behind the curtains. She pulled out her phone and checked her postings on Facebox. She has two, both anonymous. Both are open. First is an online dating match app. She posted her minimal personal information on there, hoping someone suitable would respond and she would have no problem tolerating him for a while when they get married, and the second on an incognito server, is an open posting for hiring a contracted killer.

The first one she does for herself, for royal maids may only leave the palace if she is married and decide to start a family of her own. Due to her limited interactions with normal males (everyone she sees on a daily basis, which is not many, is either a guard or royalty) she cannot find anyone she likes and thinks is suitable. She does not want to marry a royal guard, because a marriage between servants means being tied to palace servitude for life. She does not want to spend the rest of her life in service either, for she hopes to buy a small piece of land with a small house, and a fresh garden, so she could live comfortable on land and the animals she plans to raise. She has enough saved up for down payment on a nice little nest, and she has been scourging real estate websites whenever she get a chance, hoping to find a small house with a west facing backward, suitable for her idealized pastoral life.

The second posting is for her Queen. Queen Oito ordered Shimano to hire an assassin on retainer—just in case. In case of what, she did not say, but Shimano understands. It takes an approximately two months to get to their destination, or so they say, and within these two months, only one victor remains. The Queen's life span is measured in minutes and seconds, and she does not have enough luxury to enjoy them as she pleased, she needs every ounce of her concentration to ensure Woble's survival, and a happy life that she would lead once she escapes. They have already talked it out in detail. So far only a few options remain. First option and by far the most logical, she would need to latch Woble onto another prince who may succeed, and blackmail that particular prince for Woble's survival. Second option would be to find the safest and best way off this ship without anyone knowing Woble escaped. Third option would be to ensure that Woble succeeds, which by now seems like a laughable dream. The first two options would result in certain death for the Queen. If another prince succeeds, what are the chances he would keep his mother's enemies around? Second, it's much easier to smuggle a baby out than a Queen. If a baby is missing, there's 13 more lined up to succeed. If a Queen is missing, it's a disgrace on the Kakin Royalty.

If the Queen dies prematurely, the hired assassin would be to take care of the Queen's murderer. If the Queen dies as a result of the election at no harm to Woble, then the assassin would be used to ensure Woble's safety.

This is as far as the plan has ever worked itself out. As to how Woble will survive in the outside world as an infant, the two girls have yet to figure that out. Shimano suggested that sending Woble to Oito's paternal family, but it was quickly ruled out by Queen Oito herself.

"My father is not a particularly caring man." Queen Oito said yesterday to Shimano in confidence, "He will not allow Woble to live a life free of Royalty. They would destroy any hope Woble has of a normal life. Oh my baby, how I wish to be there for all your firsts; your first walk, first day in school, first crush… and teach you the values to look beyond the superficial," her voice cracked towards the end and broke into tiny sobs, "—oh, Shimano, what should I do?"

"I'll do my best to figure this out, my Queen." Shimano replied solemnly at the time.

Scrolling through her news feed, Shimano felt distraught. With great trust comes with great responsibility. In absolute truth she has no idea how to proceed with their plan, in addition to what to do after Woble gets out. Both of them did not have any interaction to the outside world for a few years now. Hence there are few individuals both of them would trust. Shimano wants to contact her family, but she has not seen them in ten years and to add a baby to their burden would be irresponsible, especially if they suspect this baby is Royalty, her parents, while they love Shimano as much as a parent could, they would have no problem returning a baby back to the palace if they know the truth. They're a traditional group of people, hence they cannot tolerate going against the crown.

This is immensely frustrating, as Shimano isn't certain raising baby Woble with a sibling of 6 commoners would be the best course of action for the little prince. It isn't the discriminatory attitude of royalty and gentry, it's coming from an idea of safety and protection. Baby Woble is extraordinary, and she is gifted with talents beyond the means of a commoner's family could nurture or understand. If she showed her Nen at an early stage of development without proper training, Shimano's family could be targeted.

And this would be the reason why the two ads are posted simultaneously. They are linked together because the ultimate fall back plan would be to raise Woble herself, and in order to avoid suspicion, Shimano need to get married and form a traditional nuclear family first. As for all the loopholes that followed, if her future husband would be let in on it, or be tolerant of a girl who has a baby to be his wife etc, let's all leave that for the future. For Shimano did not iron out the details and thought for once in her life she might have to leave things where they are and go along with the flow.

_Ping! _

A small noise distracted Shimano from her random train of thought, she thought it would be her social network dating app, but it was actually from the dark server of her other contract posting. She was surprised at first, holding her phone in her hand in uncertainty, before looking around to see if anyone was watching her, no, she was alone in a dark corner behind the heavy drapes. She shivered as she raised a hand to click on the notification, and after giving fingerprint scanning security code, she saw the letter across her screen.

"Illumi Zoldyck has answered your open contract."

Shimano gasped silently; her eyes widened as she her fingers trembled scrolling down.

"To reply, click agree."

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A/N: Oooooo things are about to get interestinggg.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Qualification Needed:

-Must be able on the Black Whale 1

-Must be a professional Hunter with extraordinary Nen ability

-Must be willing to protect 2 individuals at the same time

-Must be available for long term contracts, maximum 3 months

-Must be non-Kakin Empire national

Shimano looked at the certain points of her posting and thought maybe she didn't put enough hindsight onto the posting itself, but the reward seems very promising. It's all Queen Oito could muster, selling almost all of her gifts and possessions secretly over the years in private, saving them up for this moment. It's 2.8 million Kin, which would be the equivalent of 2 billion Jennies.

To be honest, none of the two co-conspirators have had any dealings with the underworld, and they both does not know how to do a professional assassination posting, luckily, one of them has read extensively and is excellent at research therefore she is able to search online and access a dark server and managed to log herself into a posting something more of less understandable of a contract online, but one that is so stupidly obvious reflective of the lack of experience, in addition to the large sum of reward, no one serious enough had the courage to actually tackle it. Well, until now.

After clicking "Agree", Shimano trembled a little, and a message popped up.

"Illumi Zoldyck has accepted your posting and has requested messaging privileges, Agree?"

Shimano took a big breath and clicked "Agree".

An instant message in a message chat board popped up on the screen:

_Illumi Z: Delete your posting ASAP. _

Shimano hesitated before going into her account and deleted the posting, she had a feeling her posting was a little too conspicuous but she honestly does not know how to do this professionally, she does not do this for a living.

At the same time, a text message from the bank popped up,

"Dear Customer, 10,000 Jennies from your account in United National Bank has been withdrawn, your balance remains 1,999,990,000."

This is the automatic fee for someone answering the ad and making a commitment to take on the assignment. As soon as the ad has been deleted, another message from Illumi Zoldyck popped up,

_Illumi Z: When are you available to discuss the assignment in detail? _

Shimano thought for a moment before replying,

_Shimano F: Midnight 12:00, I'll call you._

_Illumi Z: Noted. _

Suddenly a small commotion around the back of the banquet hall ensued, and as it turned out it was Queen Oito fainting, and Kurapika with the guards quickly escorted her back to her private chambers. Shimano tucked her phone back in and quickly rushed to her side.

A couple of minutes later, they were all back in Queen Oito's chambers, Shimano was holding onto Woble in her arms. Kurapika dismissed the group of guards and asked them to go outside while he examined the room and the Queen to see if she's injured.

Shimano observed the boy in front of her carefully. She could see the naivetes faded from his face, as his eyes become more calculated when he notices something slightly off. He finished examined the room with Gyo before focusing his eyes to Shimano and Woble, who was sleeping soundly. Kurapika so far has paid minimal attention to Shimano other than the fact to acknowledge her role in protecting the Queen. Shimano quickly adjusted her emotions and faced him with blank eyes. Kurapika narrowed his eyes a little before requesting calmly, "Shimano-san, would it be alright if you and the Prince wait outside the doors while I have a conversation alone with Queen Oito? All the guards are present out there, you should be fine."

This marks the first complete sentence he has ever said to Shimano, who nodded slowly before holding Woble and walked out quietly closing the heavy doors behind her.

Woble woke up from her nap, shaking her head and let out a yell of dissatisfaction. Her chubby little arms waved around in anger for being disturbed, Shimano quickly tried to sooth her, but she was more fussy than usual today, and as Shimano was all out of options when the Twelfth Prince, Momoze, walked from around the corner of the hall way, and passed by. She stopped in front of Shimano and asked softly, "What's wrong with my sister?"

Shimano was struck by her gentle grace and beauty. Prince Momoze has a beautiful luscious set of hair, along with a tiny heart shaped face and delicate features. She seems like she belonged in a fairy tale rather than this cruel world, and she stood daintily, a sharp contrast to the tall and buff guards stood behind her, most of whom are probably spies sent by other members of the family.

Shimano replies, "She's a little fussy today, my lady. She was woken up from her nap through all that commotion."

"I see." Momoze smiled softly before looking towards her infant sister, who stopped crying and opened up her bright button like eyes to observe this beautiful creature in front of her. Woble held onto Shimano's dark hair and clothing but turned her head towards Momoze, unable to look away. She bursts into a fit of smiles and giggles as Momoze leaned closer to her.

"She's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." Momoze remarked, and she let out the longest sigh. A feeling of overwhelming helplessness washed over her, Shimano could feel it. Momoze's beautiful eyes shrouded by a film of tears, and she lowered her head, raising a hand to touch Woble's chubby little fingers. Before they made contact, Shimano physically jumped back out of habit, and shielded Woble in her embrace while turning her back on Prince Momoze.

"I'm extremely sorry." Shimano said determinedly, "Prince Woble is an infant, I cannot allow anyone to touch her without the Queen's consent."

Momoze was slightly shocked, then retracted her hand back to her robes, and sighed inaudibly before holding her hands near her heart, "Of course. I'm sorry." She paused a little before looking at Woble's and whispered, "I've never touched her before."

She straightened her robes before walking ahead, and turned a corner before going out of sight.

Kurapika opened the doors and informed that Queen Oito would like to hold Woble, and Shimano quickly entered the room and placed the young Prince in the Queen's tired arms. She excused herself and begin to move away and out the door when Kurapika stood by the door grabbed onto her hand.

It was a small move but it made Shimano hold still, her heart pounding violently as Kurapika turned his head and looked at her in a reticent manner, "Where are you going?"

Several things happened at once within the span of a few seconds.

First, Kurapika was using Ko when he grabbed onto Shimano, perhaps it was unconscious, or perhaps it was habit, but when he focused his Nen on his hands when grabbing onto Shimano, Shimano felt a shock through her body.

Second, the shock sent a chilling effect through her vertebrae, and for the first time, Shimano experienced an unknown sensation of satisfaction, she felt as if every single pore in her body has been opened up and something warm has been flowing out of them.

Third, as they touch, Kurapika's aura intensified involuntarily, causing his grip on Shimano tighten without his knowledge…. And he squeezed her just a little too tightly.

He broke her wrist.

Fourth, as they were at the door, Queen Oito screamed—she had a vision using her Little Eye, and saw that Prince Momoze had been murdered.

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TBC


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Shimano sat on the corner of the infirmary with a bandage on her wrist. She thought about events that that had happened, everyone was panicking over the death of Prince Momoze. Shimano doesn't quite know what to think. On one hand Prince Momoze has been nothing but kind, but so are the other princes, at least, on the surface. She knows for a fact that some princes exude kindness but has been evil to the core, ruthless and violent, beating servants and abusing them because of their spoiled status. She has seen these kinds of things before way too often, and it often doesn't surprise her.

She was just reminded of what happened thirty minutes ago, when Prince Momoze passed by to look at her little sister Woble, and suddenly a part of her heart twitched in pain. The pain of longing for familial love so much, but could never have it because you're a Royalty. It's a terrifyingly impressive status but at the same time, it's terribly lonely.

When she arrived at the infirmary, it was unusually quiet. The doctor on staff was a kind eyed young girl who healed her wrist immediately, and she apologized, "I'm sorry, my shishou—she's on tier three—could heal this and take away the pain, I cannot. I can only ensure a quick patch up, but you'll still feel very sore for a few days. I can give you some painkillers."

Shimano shook her head, "No need. I'm good."

"Alright, just have a seat when I finish up your chart…"

Shimano looked at her phone, it's 2 hours before midnight. In addition, she needs to prepare a meal for the Queen and Woble. She stood up suddenly and said, "I need to go."

The doctor was no where in sight, she must've gone to the back room, without wanting to wait for her Shimano left and closed the door behind her. She sprinted down the hallway, straight to the kitchen.

Shimano has always had a talent with food and service. This does not mean that she necessarily wants to be a servant for the rest of her life, but she could pair up flavors in her mind, memorize recipes in an instant, and thought up of endless and creative new dishes to try. Sometimes these things pop into her mind, sometimes they stem from years and years of extensive research and reading various cook books. She found she could make anything in haste and make it taste absolutely delicious, and the Queen and Woble both grew very attached to her cooking, and her efforts in general. She is the only person who remembers to place a few drops of orange oil in the Queen's personal clothing laundry, or to have hot water and mint tea on the stove at all time, or stew delicious bone broth with herbs every night so the Queen would have plenty of soup to drink in the morning and produce enough milk for Woble.

For this meal, she used braised meat and grind them into a paste before smearing them onto a freshly toasted bun. Mixed greens and soup as sides, with a fish steak as the main dish, paired up nicely with wild rice with garlic butter. She arranged them on the tray with a touch of fresh basil leaves as garnish. When she picked the tray up it physically hurt her wrists a little. She winced before powering through it, as soon as she puts it down, she turned around and saw Kurapika pointing a gun at her with chains tied to his wrist.

Kurapika asked her point blank, "Can you use Nen?"

"Of course not." Shimano replied almost automatically.

Kurapika retracted his gun, "my apologies, I'm vetting everyone at the moment…"

"What about Bill? He was also in the room!"

"He passed, of course…"

Queen Oito called out from the inside, "Is that Shimano? Is she alright?"

Shimano quickly rushed to her side, who noticed her bandage and used her eyes to ask her what's going on, and Shimano quickly shook her head lightly indicating she'll tell her later, and Oito nodded before turning to Kurapika, who was planning on gather all the servants and guards to a physical area where he could see them.

Shimano slipped out of the room before anyone could notice. She doubt it'll matter much, she has already been vetted, and there are 20 plus people in the room, it should keep Kurapika busy for a while.

She stopped by the kiten along the way and kept on climbing up and up above, through levels and staircases to the deck, where the door was guarded by two very solemn but tired looking guards. She quickly smiled and said, "Good evening boys, Hatsu, Lowe, rough night?"

"You have no idea." The guard on the left first straightened up when he heard a noise around the corner, but upon discovering it was Shimano, he quickly relaxed. "What did you bring us today, Shimano-san?"

Shimano uncovered a basket she recovered from the kitchen and said, "How does cornbread and fried steak sound?"

The two guards practically salivated at the sight of the glorious food basket, and while letting her go past the door to the deck, they warned, "ten minutes maximum, and only knock once when you return. If we don't reply it means our commander has come to check up on us, wait for a few minutes and we will let you back in. Why do you want to go up above to the deck?"

"I want to admire the view." She smiled at them before disappearing behind the doors into the dark night.

They are good boys, just barely 18 when drafted into the royal palace. Shimano always thought it was unnecessarily cruel to pick the boys out of their homes just as they are about to embark on the best part of their life, but at the same time, it was necessary because poorer families couldn't afford to send all their children to school and obtain a higher education.

She checked her phone, 11:45, 15 minutes to midnight. She looked at her wrist and her hands, and upon close concentration, a faint glow begin to surface along the skin, and she could feel small amounts of energy exudes itself from her tiny pores, leaking out from her skin.

It's nothing like the things she has seen Kurapika do, or the first prince, Prince Benjamin, who is able to emit an aura that radiates far from his body. She usually avoids him at all costs because she's terrified of him, as most people do.

She thinks that she is able to learn Nen now.

It did not shock her as much as she thought it would. Maybe in the back of her mind, she has always known that she's some sort of special, but not special enough to be a prodigy or make any difference in the world. She's exceptionally fast at making beds, doing laundry, organizing, polishing, cleaning, and cooking. Sometimes she deliberately slows down to wait for her peers to catch up, and not to arouse suspicion among her superiors. She never thought it was relevant or something to brag about because who could ever imagine doing service very fast is something note worth? It's not like she is telepathic or have the power of flight. She's just, slightly better at random stuff and maybe more knowledgeable than her peers, that's all.

As she reveled in her new found ability, she could not help but feel depressed. It's not like her new ability allows her to shoot lasers out from her fingers or create a tiny sun that could obliterate anyone in their proximity. She has no idea how to hone her powers, but she's certain that it's not something destructive. It certainly couldn't be helped to save Woble or the Queen, one or both could die by the end of these two months. Yes she can cook well, but good food has never prevented any assassinations… that she has known of.

She sighed, and looked into the scene in front of her, it was pure dark except for the faint light lamp that lit up a narrow deck with a railing. Everything in front of her was black except she could feel the wind and salty sea water sometimes would splash into tiny droplets and land on her skin. She could not tell where the sea ended and the sky begin, and she felt that her future, and everyone on this boat, was as bleak as the scene in front of her.

The waves made splashes against the exterior of the boat, with just the right amount of ambient noise to hide a private conversation.

As soon as the phone displays 12:00am, her phone vibrated.

She quickly picked up, "Hello?"

"Shimano Fascia, I presume?" A voice on the other end of the line said, "It's nice to hear from you. This is Illumi Zoldyck. Shall we begin?"

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TBC


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Shimano shivered at Illumi's voice but managed to maintain her cool by forcing herself to concentrate on the darkness and waves in front of her. As she opened her mouth the taste of salt splashed on her tongue, and she was suddenly painfully aware of how small she is and the efforts she has in this vast ocean of water, and the grand scheme of things. Both Queen Oito and Prince Woble are the least important characters in the Royal Family. She is eighth and the Prince is 14th, the youngest and an infant. In addition, the King's previous wives are all either princesses or heiresses. Queen Oito has literally nothing to back her up—nothing of importance. No family, no background, no power.

She begins, "This mission is an elongated one, the first and foremost would be to figure out a way to make contact. We are on the first and second tier, and you, presumably, are on the third tier. The only thing that's separating us is a heavy metal gate that cannot be opened."

Illumi Zoldyck replied calmly, "That seal itself is not heavier than my family's gate. However, I see your point, the political ramifications would far outweigh its physical importance."

Shimano did mean that, and she's surprised that Illumi Zoldyck was sharp enough to picked up her tone over the phone. She frowned involuntarily, thinking she must be careful when dealing with this person she's talking to. It seems he's terrifyingly observant as well.

"Now I will reveal to you the name of our employer." She said, after knowing full well who the Zoldyck family are (this involved researching online on the dark server). "She is Queen Oito, the eighth Queen, and her daughter, Prince Woble. Your mission is separated into two tasks. The first would be to kill whoever is involved in the death of the Queen or the Prince, and second, is to ensure the safe protection of either one who survived after the Black Whale 1 arrived for one month, and in addition, whoever that guards Prince Woble."

"I'm assuming most likely it's going to be you? Shimano-san?"

His tone was frightfully polite and casual at the same time.

"Yes, most likely." Shimano said without hiding.

"Well, I don't usually deal with long term details that involves the identity of an unknown target." The voice coming from the phone said, "Just in case there's a conflict of interest, I'm afraid."

"I would assume this to be a problem if you are handling any other contract for a certain family, but you are currently on the third tier, I would assume you are not."

"It would be too obvious, wouldn't it? If someone of my caliber appeared as part of a guarding detail." He chuckled softly.

A shiver went down Shimano's spine, who counter argued with a thought in her head: yes, but don't even pretend you're not fluent in the art of disguises.

Then again, a man's aura and energy are extremely hard to hide with someone who practices nen. A person's caliber can be judged by the aura they emit, in other words, En.

"What is it that you want, Mr. Zoldyck?" Shimano asked bluntly, fearing her patience and her time are both running out.

Illumi went silent for a few seconds before saying, "Are you able to double your reward?"

So, it's all about money with him. Shimano thought to herself spitefully, but then almost laughed at her own ridiculous thought, as if she is not governed by wealth and power.

Now here's the dilemma, she doesn't have an extra 2 billion Jenny. Nor does the Queen. She already liquidated most of her assets, and Kurapika needs to be paid, therefore she's almost an empty husk. It would be most ideal to have someone on either side of the tier, Kurapika is shielding them in the light, and Illumi hiding in the dark. This way Prince Woble would have the best chance to survive. She cursed herself for not lowering the reward in the initial ad. Shimano thought about it in her mind, it's one of those moments where thousands of thoughts flew through her mind and she made an executive decision after a few seconds.

"Would 3 billion Jenny in total suffice?" She asked, feeling pathetic.

"I don't negotiate my offers. Shimano-san." Illumi said lightly, as if this whole thing was a game to him. "If this puts you at peace, I am working with another member of the family, and the two of us would ensure our clients' safety."

"Then I would request a financing option." She said immediately, "Are you alright with daily payments of 2 billion over the period of three months, and another 2 billion for when the job ends?"

"That would suffice." The voice said, echoing her previous question, "We will maintain contact via text and phone calls? Please keep me updated on your current situation. Now I will send over our contract, please sign it after you've carefully read through all pages. I look forward to working with you. Shimano-san. As soon as the contract is signed, both my brother Kalluto and I will be at your service any time you need us."

"Thank you." Shimano replied with some trepidation. She breathed in and out while placing her phone on her chest after hanging up, and then decided she better get back and start preparing for next morning's meal.

And it was that moment on she owes 2 billion Jennies in debt, and she has no idea exactly how to pay it off. She's not planning on telling the Queen about this, it would be foolish to add to her worries, instead she will try to find a way to pay it off herself. Hiring this assassin was mainly her idea, and some small selfish part of her, it was also a way to ensure she gets off the boat alive. If everything is going down to hell, she is determine not to go down with it.

She turned to the steel door and knocked on it once, and heard no response. Curious, she waited for a few minutes and still hear no response. That's when she starts to panic.

Having a great presence of mind is something she's proud of, and she immediately begin to search for a way to get down below by walking along the long deck and holding onto the rails. This long deck is the further up than any other deck, and was only available for helipad landings and rooftop maintenance. There's another level of deck down below but the only way down was through stairs or if she climbs over the railing and slide down the side of the boat and land below while cracking her back.

The desk she's currently on has a door every hundred meters or so. She walked all the way around and found 5 doors in total, all shut and locked. There's one door directly in the center and looks slightly bigger. It's not labeled, which is weird because every exit and room on this boat has been labeled. She looked around her surrounding and decided that there's nothing else to lose by trying to jam it open. She placed her hand on the handle and twisted it, nothing happened.

She took a deep breath and remembered just a couple hours ago when Kurapika pointed a gun at her and asked her if she knows how to use Nen, and she replied she doesn't. It was because she was 99% sure she does not, and the last 1% was so flimsy and unreal she quenched it down in the last second when she was supposed to answer. Luckily the ability Kurapika deemed her to be truthful and let her off the hook.

She then wondered if anyone could ever be 100% sure on something they do not know the possibility of. The lie detector only judges something on the surface at the present time. It would be very easy to try and convince oneself that they are not lying. She knows for a fact that good liars are able to do so. There are girls who delude themselves and imagine that the man they're chasing after is truly in love with them and it turns out very different from what they imagined. There are men who lies to get what they want from people, regardless of the consequences. She wonders how they will do when faced with Kurapika. Well, no point worrying about it now, but from now on, she will have to lie to him. She is the one that hides in the shadows while Queen Oito and Prince Woble stands in the light waiting to be sacrificed.

Thinking of this, she forced herself to be more brave and determined. She drew deep breath from her gut and focused her energy on to her hands and yanked really hard.

The door handle came loose, and it flew off and made a soundless splat into the ocean.

Luckily, the door opened.

Shimano gulped, and when she was just about to step in, she quickly retracted her step and took off her jacket and wrapped it around her head while taking off her shoes and stuffed them inside her black robes. Then stepped in. She's worried there would be cameras all around, and she was not incorrect, there was. She closed the door behind her and peered into the huge room she's in, and she almost screamed.

It was a dark room with no electric lights except for flaming torches all lines up in a huge circle, and the torches are on such huge wooden poles it looked eerie enough, if not for the coffins also lined up in a circle underneath the torches, making the whole room looked like a big clock, and the coffins are numbers within it. Strange patterns was drawn on the ground leading from the coffin to the center, which was a weird structure that Shimano did not have time to look closely because she ran along the edged outside of the weird coffin structures and to the nearest door available—it was locked.

She was in deep despair. She knew that these coffins are for, and she's very creeped out by them.

In addition, she heard voices outside.

In a panic, she ran to the closest coffin and hid behind it, but finding it to be fruitless because the torches casts a long shadow of her figure that could be seen by anyone standing anywhere in the room. She gulped and opened up a casket, and finding it empty (thankfully) she jumped it and closed the lid, leaving a sliver of an opening for air.

She is deeply claustrophic but she has a deeper fear of death itself. As she peered into the sliver, she forces herself to calm down and observe.

The King and his advisors came in, and they stood on the other ends of the room, looking down at an open casket and begin muttering something. Exactly what they were trying to converse she has no idea, it was too far to distinguish, but they both look genuinely sad. Then Shimano suddenly remembered –it was Prince Momoze, her body must've been placed into that casket.

She counted 13 caskets when she was running around aimlessly trying to escape earlier, and she thought it was weird because there was 12 number on a clock, and then it made sense, there were 14 princes competing for the throne.

A chill went down her spine, she has been getting a lot of that recently. The King looks sorrowful but not a shred of remorse was available on his face. He looked as if he's at peace with the whole thing, and of all that Shimano has saw, the expression on the King's face was the one that she's disgusted with the most. What kind of terrifying man would be able to watch the children he raised die and not feel any sorrow?

She felt sick to her stomach, and just then, her phone rang.

It was not a big deal, a very tiny "Ding!" from deep inside her pocket, but she quickly shut her whole casket down and lied back flat, clutching her phone, she found the contract sent by Illumi Zolydyck waiting for her digital fingerprint. Even in a state of panic, she signed it without much further consideration and was wondering that she may need his services sooner than she expected. If she has been found hiding in this place, she might as well just commit suicide then and there to avoid all the ramifications that comes after.

Ten minutes later, nothing happened. She opened up her casket lid a little to see what's going on, just in time to catch the King and his advisors exiting.

Shimano slowly climbed out of the casket and checked if she left anything behind inside before proceeding to the door in which the King exited, and pressed her ear to it, checking to see if there was any sounds. There wasn't, she opened it lightly, and stepped into the brightly lit electric hall way, closing the door behind her, still with her black jacket around her head.

She sprinted around the hall ways and going through exits after exits and returned to her own chambers eventually. It was already late into the night, the few guards who saw her all knew her personally and did not pursue her further other than give her a stern warning of not walking around so late at night.

She returned to her own little bunk bed, her roommate deep asleep in the bunk above her. She changed into her pajamas and did not get a lot of sleep that night.

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TBC


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The daily routine of a humbling chamber maid begins with getting up at 4:30 in the morning and check over all the areas she was going to be working in today. That includes the kitchen, the dining area, the chambers of royalties, and the gather halls. Different maids have different responsibilities, and Shimano being one of the head maids, she's able to gave order to the younger maids who are working at the bottom rung of the ladder.

Her objective is to check if Prince Woble has woken up. If she has, Shimano will pick her up and feed her a warmed bottle. If not, she'll check in another 20 minutes or so.

Prince Woble wakes up about 3 or 4 times during the night, and the maids take turn to watch her and feed her the bottle. Shimano took the morning shift.

On her usual route this morning with a duster in her hand, she heard a strange noise coming in from the maid's bathroom down the hall, and she went in to inquire what's going on, only to see a young maid hurled over the toilet knelt down on the group and dry heaving. Obviously it was too early during the day for the girl to have eaten anything worthwhile to vomit out, but Shimano recognized her as one of the new recruits especially for this cruise mission, and is obviously not well very trained, or have not seen the world as well as she could have if she had more experiences.

"Ako?" Shimano called out gently, fearing of scaring the girl.

The girl quickly stood up and said, "Shimano-san, I'm sorry. You're here, is Queen Oito awake? I shall attend to her—"

"No, she's not. Don't worry." Shimano stopped her from flustering all over the place. "I'm just worried because I passed by and saw you not feeling well. Are you alright? Do you need to take the morning off?"

"No, I—" She looked as if she's about to burst into tears, but stopping herself just in time.

Shimano helped her to the sink and said firmly but gently, "Tell me what happened. I won't get mad. I'm going to help you get through this. Don't bottle this up all to yourself, if you do, you won't make it off this ship alive."

This perhaps frightened the poor girl into talking, so everything spilt out like beans.

As it turned out, Ako was woken up this morning not through her regular schedule, rather a guard ordered her to wake up. The guard then asked if she's a cleaning maid and how long has she worked for the Royal family, and then they forced her to go through halls and chambers, only to arrive at the Fourth Prince Tserriednich's chambers. They pushed her into the washroom and asked her to clean it up, and Ako was initially curious about what had transpired, until she started cleaning and she—

"I found a tooth wrapped in some hairs caught at the edge of the drainage!" She whispered, obviously very startled ad frightened. "I quickly tossed them and begin to clean as usual, and then when I lifted the drainage plugs, and found—blood, leaked all within—it was—oh god—"

"Stop talking." Shimano quickly silenced her.

In truth, Shimano has known about this for a while. It was kind of an open secret within the community of workers who are in the service. She When Prince Tserriednich did horrible things, he's certainly not going to clean up after himself. She also knew maids who were incapable of keeping these secrets and got themselves killed, and by then it was a prevalent knowledge that the vile Prince collected human body parts. She always assumed that when people reach a certain height of status and power, they would want to achieve abnormal habits in order to stimulate themselves, and she was right. Nobody in their right mind would ever dream of collecting human parts, except for the rich and powerful.

She turned to Ako and asked, "Have you finished cleaning?"

"No, I ran back when the guard was called away. Oh, Shimano san, don't make me go back there, please don't, I think—"

"Hush." Shimano was getting annoyed with her lack of subtlety. "Now bury this inside your heart and push it down. Don't ever tell this to another living soul, if you want to live. Do you know what I mean?"

Ako had the sense to nod, "Yes."

"Now go check on Queen Oito to see if she's awake, if she is, come and fetch me, I'll go clean up after your mess."

"Oh, thank you—thank you!" Ako bowed deeply before running off.

Shimano walked down the hall ways at a hurried pace, not a lot of guards were on duty yet, and when she walked almost ten minutes away, she arrived at Prince Tserriednich's chambers, which was guarded by a single soldier who looked extremely menacing.

Shimano said, "I'm here to clean up."

"I thought there was already a maid doing that."

"She didn't finish the job." Shimano answered honestly and short to the point. This satisfied the guard, and he let her into the doors.

She was greeted with a labyrinth of rooms. She followed the signs as to where the bathroom was, nad past all the marbled flooring and beautiful antique furniture, she arrived at a gigantic bathroom with a white quartz tub filled with running hot water and flower petals inside. She immediately realized that Prince Tserriednich was probably not far away, and wanting to get away from that sicko as fast as possible, she turned so fast and ran for the door, only to be confronted by the tall and handsome prince himself, who stood at the door with nothing but a towel on, holding a book.

Shimano cursed silently underneath her breadth, and immediately bowed her head so low that she could only see his feet.

"What is this?" His lazy and nonchalant voice rang through, he sounds mildly curious.

"Your highness, I'm only here to clean. I was just about to retrieve some cleaning supplies from the kitchen." She said obediently, as monotonous as possible.

"I see." He took one look at her and decided she wasn't worth his attention, "They should be in the storage cabinet. Carry on then. Make sure you're quiet."

"Of course, your highness." Shimano said, backing away from him while still maintaining the position of bowing very deeply.

The prince walked towards the gigantic bathtub and tossed his towel on the floor before diving in.

To say that Shimano is not nervous would be a lie. Her heart started pounding the moment he appeared, and it hasn't slowed to a regular rhythm since. All her objective at the moment is to ensure that she must stay alive, she cannot die here as a plaything for someone she deeply loathes, and she must survive to continue her life.

She dove to the storage cabinets, and the doors hides her upper body. She used it to conceal her act of grabbing her phone from her pockets and find Illumi Zoldyck on her speed dial, and then proceeds to waiting to connect. After a couple rings, Illumi picked up.

"Hello?" The voice came from the other end.

Obviously, Shimano cannot talk. However, she tapped her phone screen two times deliberately, indicating she is present.

"I see." Illumi said, "I'll be listening."

Shimano placed her phone back into her pocket discreetly, and begin cleaning by dumping some cleaning solution onto a moist rag, and approached the drains with caution. The prince has his back towards her while reading, and Shimano started scrubbing furiously around the area, including parts of the lid Ako missed, rinsing the rag out several times, and she did find long black hair entangled within the screw, and pushed away the urge to gag.

She then went to the standing shower, and saw a small blade stained with blood tucked away in the nook of the shower, where a regular power washer would not reach.

She froze in place.

It must have taken her less than two seconds to restore her composure, but when she bends down to scrub, she quickly wiped away the blood on one end of her rag, and placed it back where she found it, and when she turned around—still on the round— she saw Prince Tserriednich's feet standing next to her.

"Found something interesting?" He asked, dragging out every syllable.

"My apologies, Prince Tserriednich." She quickly addressed him, using his full name, "There's a small blade here, I thought it might be dangerous." She said, folding her rags to hide the blood, "I was wondering if it's there on purpose."

The prince, still fully naked, asked in a flirtish tone, "why would it be there on purpose?"

"Um, for—nails and callouses, or shaving, my prince?" Shimano asked, feigning to be timid.

"I see." He said, and suddenly grabbed Shimano's arm, and lifted her up as if she's a chicken until her face levels with his. "I haven't seen you anywhere before. Tell me, where have you been all my life?"

He really is a very handsome man, Shimano thought as he forced her to look at him. He does have all the features a girl would want in a man, but at the same time, he is a psychopath. She had to remind herself in order not to be sucked in by his seductive gestures. She turns away and answered quietly, "Please, my prince, I just want to finish cleaning."

The Prince looked down at the creature in front of him, and tore her rag away from her hands, revealing the blood stains. He wiped the rag across her face and tossed it down on the floor, all the while maintaining a cold expression. "Are you judging me?"

"No, my prince." She said calmly. Showing no emotions that betrayed the gross act he just committed.

"You are. Don't lie." He leaned in, inching his face closer to hers, and asked venomously, "tell me, what is the difference between you and I?"

"Nothing and everything, my prince." Shimano whispered, because his lips were literally two centimeters away from hers.

"Oh?" This answer made him mad, as he pulled his lip back to a snarl and baring his teeth, "Why?"

"Our similarities and differences lie within ourselves, both of us have an intrinsic value of our own moral worth." Shimano said with resolve.

This certainly made the Prince extremely surprised, for her let her go and pulled his head back, examining her in another perspective. He then asked, less angry, "Are you expressing your disdain through Kant?"

"Merely an objective observation as an end, my prince." She said, rubbing her arm from the way he pinched and squeezed her, while also trying her hardest not to drift her eyes towards his naked crotch, she turned her head away, looking towards the bathtub, where the book "Groundwork of Metaphysics and Morals", lies on the ground.

During a few seconds when Shimano had to think very hard in order to fight for her life, several thoughts ran through her head. First, the prince knows that she has seen and wiped away her blood, therefore he knows she has knowledge of his heinous crimes. Second, she knew he wasn't sure if she was going to keep her mouth shut, for he does not know her well, and does not care to. Third, she knows that he was contemplating on gutting her and end her life right there, but it would not be enjoyable, because he only finds killing through beauty and rarity, not common people like maids.

He doesn't really care if she judges him, he only cared if she is able to keep her mouth shut, and he already sealed her fate by deciding to kill her.

It was up to Shimano to reverse her fate around and grabbing control of her own destiny, and through one single sentence, she twisted the situation in her own favor.

She invoked Emmanual Kant, and evoked his inner sophophilia to save her from dying. She insinuates that both of them has their own dignities and resolves, making them equal in this sense, but the difference in those goals and the way they live their lives are what separates them, and adding that she prefers the truth instead of manipulation, something she knows he values as well. Interestingly she did both, she manipulated him as well as told the truth.

Prince Tserriednich narrowed his eyes at her, and said slowly, "it's a pity—you are a horrid looking creature."

She honestly does not know how to respond to that, she wants to retort something along the line of beauty and intellect, but she kept her mouth shut and wondered if he's mentally insane as well as lacking empathy.

Luckily, one of his guards, Theta, called out from the door, "Prince Tserriednich? I have urgent news—"

"I'm coming." The prince turned away from Shimano and pulled a snowy white robe from the cabinets, wrapping himself within the soft cotton, and walked towards the door, before he leaves, he turned back at her and said, "Don't leave this room."

Almost as soon as he left, she pulled her phone out and saw thankfully that the line has not been disconnected. Immediately she placed it near her ear and breathed out, "What do I do?"

Illumi's cold and emotionless voice entered from the other end, "You should run and get out of there, now."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxxXxX

TBC


End file.
